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There are many definitions of marketing and the better ones are focused upon customer orientation and satisfaction of customer needs. I have chosen two different definitions of marketing and through them I attempt to give an overall view of what marketing largely is about. The first one is from The Chartered Institute of Marketing: “Marketing is the management process that identifies, anticipates and satisfies customer requirements profitably. ” (The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)) The definition of CIM has got three key elements.
Besides identifying customer needs, it also looks at satisfying them (entails short-term repercussions) and anticipating them in the future (for long-term retention of customer base). Another definition of marketing is as follows: “Marketing is not only much broader than selling, it is not a specialized activity at all. It encompasses the entire business. It is the whole business seen from the point of view of the final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must therefore permeate all areas of the enterprise. (Drucker) Drucker’s definition of marketing well reflects what the marketing concept is all about. It is, in fact, a philosophy that makes the customer, and the satisfaction of their needs, the focal point of all business activities. According to Drucker, marketing has got to have an impact on every department of an enterprise, and also, every decision has got to be revised from the customer’s angle. Both definitions highlight the importance of putting the customers at the centre of the organisation.
That involves the process of identifying their needs, satisfying them and anticipating them for the future in order to retain clientele. The CIM definition also stresses out the target of earning profit, which is primarily the main objective of every privately-owned business organisation. Therefore the CIM definition slightly better defines the overall purpose of marketing, while the Drucker definition is more shifted towards the absolute implementation of the concept of marketing orientation.